Plans to build a controversial gas plant near Tewkesbury have been thrown out for the second time in seven months.

Ecotricity's revised planning application, for an anaerobic digestion facility on fields close to Fiddington, was rejected by the borough council this morning.

All but one member of its planning committee voted to refuse permission for the development, which had led to 184 letters of objection and 15 in support.

People living in the hamlet of Fiddington and surrounding hamlets feared the gas plant would ruin the landscape, as well as cause smell and traffic problems.

Stroud-based Ecotricity had scaled back its proposed £10million facility after its original application was refused by the council in October last year.

The scheme considered by the authority today was for a smaller plant on the land, with the company saying the size of the development and traffic movements would be reduced by 40 per cent. It suggested making improvements at the A38 Odessa junction and a detailed widening programme in Tredington Road and Fiddington Road.

But that did not impress council officers who told the meeting the plant was "inappropriate" for the rural site because it was of an "industrial scale".

There was no real debate on the matter, though Councillor Vernon Smith (C, Tewkesbury Newtown) spoke against the proposal.

He said there would be benefits but they would be outweighed by the "significant harm" to the environment.

Residents feared vehicles using the plant would cut up the verges of the narrow lanes in the area and Mr Smith said: "Inevitably, damage to the verges would be devastating."

He said he wanted to support local farmers, who would supply the grass for the facility, but he said the desire to help them would not justify the harm that tractors and trailers would cause to the lanes.

Tony Davies, of the Save Our Lanes action group, said the same smell, noise and light pollution that residents had worried about with the first application applied to the second one.

He claimed Ecotricity was attempting to create "an industrial estate under a green umbrella".

Regarding the plant's vehicles and the public using the lanes, he said: "It would remain more than a little bit tight. In practice, it would be impossible."

Denise Hicks, whose garden is just 70 metres from the edge of the planned development, said after the meeting that she and her husband Gerald were "thrilled" at the committee's decision.

She was one of about 50 people who displayed placards outside the council offices in Tewkesbury before the meeting.

A Ecotricity spokesperson said: "We're disappointed by today's decision, as we had taken into account the concerns of local people and adjusted our plans accordingly.

"The application significantly reduced the size of the development and the traffic impact, as well as bringing in a road widening scheme which would have had big benefits for local people.

"If we had gained approval, we would have injected almost £2million into the local economy every year, created up to 30 new jobs, supported existing farming jobs, and developed new wildlife habitats - all without the risks of fracking.